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Does anyone have good information on "beating" these triggers? Knowing they exist is a good start, but I'd love to be able to stop checking FB / Twitter / HN (g

Does anyone have good information on "beating" these triggers? Knowing they exist is a good start, but I'd love to be able to stop checking FB / Twitter / HN (gasp) when I'm feeling bored.

tedunangst 15y ago
1. Pick a deadline for your timeout. 1 day, 1 week, ... 2. Change your password to something random, write it down. 3. Logout. 4. Wait until timeout expires before logging in. See how you feel.
nireyal 15y ago
This is such a common struggle in the tech community, yet few have as much self-awareness as you do to admit it. Thank you! I will be blogging about how to unwind habits in my next post but in the meantime understanding the different types of behavior change might be useful to you, see: http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/03/how-to-design-behavior.html http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/03/how-to-design-behavior.html I hope this is helpful.
Mz 15y ago
For me and my sons, mindlessly checking stuff while bored was rooted in health issues. In other words, we were both bored and too ill for something more challenging than passive entertainment. Working on underlying health issues did a lot to change that. Old habits return when we are somewhat under the weather but it isn't a big issue like it once was. Best of luck.
- aw3c2 15y ago
  what kind of illness?
  - Mz 15y ago
    I happen to have cystic fibrosis, as does my oldest son. I am real sensitive to dust, chemicals, etc. Having spent some time on alternative med sites, I have come to believe that allergens, chemicals and the like leave a lot more people in a mental fog than most people would think.
    - aw3c2 15y ago
      Interesting, thanks. I am glad you two are better!
brucejaywallace 15y ago
Ramit sethi of I will teach you to be rich once wrote he has a betting label in his email with friends. Bet money with friends about breaking bad habits or forming/maintaining new good ones. Ex. He betted friends who could lose 10 pounds first (or something like that). Good friends hold you accountable and betting money keeps you serious... Obviously you don't bet the bank....
astrofinch 15y ago
What works for me is to use a website blocker and find alternative relaxing activities to do instead when I'm tired. I don't care right now though since I am temporarily out of commission from doing anything useful.
dereg 15y ago
Go out for a walk, it's amazing what fresh air does for the needy mind.
hosh 15y ago
How to beat the triggers? Mindfulness (insight) meditation. (1) When the urge comes, observe the urge as it rises and goes away. (2) Do not avoid the experience. It will feel like it sucks because it does. There is no magic pill to avoid the experience. (3) Things come and go, nothing is permanent. This urge will eventually pass. (4) If you want to take this further: try to discern the physical sensation making up the "urge" with the "mental echo". (5) It is important not to try to "beat" these triggers. That's a form of avoidance and rejection and will only make the urges stronger. People usually give into the urge to make the feeling of suffering go away; if you accept and experience the suffering for what it is, you break out of the dopamanine/gollumization loop. For (4), as you know, your neurons do not fire continuously. It's an analog pulse that decays after the peak. The sensations and urges you have feel like they are continuous because you experience other things that fills in the gap. This filler is the "mental echo". It is possible to develop enough skill in perception to distinguish between the physical sensation and the filler gap. When you can perceive this, you can see how experiences like these "urges" are actually sequences, melodies, and rhythms of sensate pulses that when combined with the mental echo, you normally recognize as a particular "urge" (or thought, or feeling). Usually, recognizing these component parts as they happen is enough. You can still choose to go with the urge, or you can ... not. For more information: - Mindfulness in Plain English. http://bit.ly/mindfulness-in-plain-english http://bit.ly/mindfulness-in-plain-english - Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddha: A Surprisingly Hardcore Book of Dharma. http://bit.ly/hardcore-dharma http://bit.ly/hardcore-dharma - The Pomodoro technique accidentally has the features for creating a time-boxed mindfulness meditation as you work. The essential components are all in the first chapter of that book.

Does anyone have good information on "beating" these triggers? Knowing they exist is a good start, but I'd love to be able to stop checking FB / Twitter / HN (gasp) when I'm feeling bored.

tedunangst 15y ago

1. Pick a deadline for your timeout. 1 day, 1 week, ... 2. Change your password to something random, write it down. 3. Logout. 4. Wait until timeout expires before logging in. See how you feel.

nireyal 15y ago

This is such a common struggle in the tech community, yet few have as much self-awareness as you do to admit it. Thank you! I will be blogging about how to unwind habits in my next post but in the meantime understanding the different types of behavior change might be useful to you, see: http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/03/how-to-design-behavior.html http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/03/how-to-design-behavior.html I hope this is helpful.

Mz 15y ago

For me and my sons, mindlessly checking stuff while bored was rooted in health issues. In other words, we were both bored and too ill for something more challenging than passive entertainment. Working on underlying health issues did a lot to change that. Old habits return when we are somewhat under the weather but it isn't a big issue like it once was. Best of luck.

aw3c2 15y ago
what kind of illness?
- Mz 15y ago
  I happen to have cystic fibrosis, as does my oldest son. I am real sensitive to dust, chemicals, etc. Having spent some time on alternative med sites, I have come to believe that allergens, chemicals and the like leave a lot more people in a mental fog than most people would think.
  - aw3c2 15y ago
    Interesting, thanks. I am glad you two are better!

brucejaywallace 15y ago

Ramit sethi of I will teach you to be rich once wrote he has a betting label in his email with friends. Bet money with friends about breaking bad habits or forming/maintaining new good ones. Ex. He betted friends who could lose 10 pounds first (or something like that). Good friends hold you accountable and betting money keeps you serious... Obviously you don't bet the bank....

astrofinch 15y ago

What works for me is to use a website blocker and find alternative relaxing activities to do instead when I'm tired. I don't care right now though since I am temporarily out of commission from doing anything useful.

dereg 15y ago

Go out for a walk, it's amazing what fresh air does for the needy mind.

hosh 15y ago

How to beat the triggers? Mindfulness (insight) meditation. (1) When the urge comes, observe the urge as it rises and goes away. (2) Do not avoid the experience. It will feel like it sucks because it does. There is no magic pill to avoid the experience. (3) Things come and go, nothing is permanent. This urge will eventually pass. (4) If you want to take this further: try to discern the physical sensation making up the "urge" with the "mental echo". (5) It is important not to try to "beat" these triggers. That's a form of avoidance and rejection and will only make the urges stronger. People usually give into the urge to make the feeling of suffering go away; if you accept and experience the suffering for what it is, you break out of the dopamanine/gollumization loop. For (4), as you know, your neurons do not fire continuously. It's an analog pulse that decays after the peak. The sensations and urges you have feel like they are continuous because you experience other things that fills in the gap. This filler is the "mental echo". It is possible to develop enough skill in perception to distinguish between the physical sensation and the filler gap. When you can perceive this, you can see how experiences like these "urges" are actually sequences, melodies, and rhythms of sensate pulses that when combined with the mental echo, you normally recognize as a particular "urge" (or thought, or feeling). Usually, recognizing these component parts as they happen is enough. You can still choose to go with the urge, or you can ... not. For more information: - Mindfulness in Plain English. http://bit.ly/mindfulness-in-plain-english http://bit.ly/mindfulness-in-plain-english - Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddha: A Surprisingly Hardcore Book of Dharma. http://bit.ly/hardcore-dharma http://bit.ly/hardcore-dharma - The Pomodoro technique accidentally has the features for creating a time-boxed mindfulness meditation as you work. The essential components are all in the first chapter of that book.